m 



'vm 












m 



w 



fLlBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 

i — ^ ' ^ 

I (FORCE COLLECTION.) | 

# — I 

I UXITKD STATES .OF AMERICA. | 



^0 



AN INQUIRY ^^ Amm^^^f 



NATURE AND BENEFITS 



AGRICULTURAL SURVEY 



STATE OF SOUTH-CAROLINA. 



JOHN^BACHMAN. 






r 

CHARLESTON: 

MILLER ft BROWNE, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS, 
Old Stand, No. 4 Broad-street. 

1843. 



^%i 









^\^' 



INTRODUCTION. 



The writer of this Essay, submits a Jew words of explanation in 
regard to the circumstances that induced him to prepare, and finally 
send it to the press. He has the honor of belonging to a Literary 
Club, composed of a limited number of gentlemen from the different 
learned professions, who meet weekly at each others houses in rota- 
tion, for the purpose of interchanging sentiments, and promoting 
sociality. A subject for discussion is selected at one meetirig, which 

forms the topic of conversation on the next. The question for the 
evening of the 2St7i December, was " what benefits may be derived 

from an Agricultural Survey of the State." The leisure of a rainy 
day had enabled him to collect his thoughts on the subject, and in part 
commit them to paper. The Essay was therefore prepared and read 
without the remotest idea of publication. At a subsequent meeting 
the Club, under an impression that it might afford some irformation 
on a subject which had so recently been agitated at Columbia, re- 
quested its publication, and that a copy be sent to the Governor, and 
to each member of the two Houses of the Legislature. He has yielded 
his assent in deference to the wishes of his literary associates, and 
especially to the solicitations and liberality of his friends, the Hon. 
D. E. HuGER, and the Hon. Mitchel King. 



"'-^ 



/ 



Al^ INQUIRY, &c. 



The Legislature of our State has recently made an appropria- 
tion for an Agricultural Survey, and the question is naturally 
suggested what benefits are likely to result from this liberality of 
our State in fosterino: our Agricultural interests. 

Within the last few years surveys have either been made, or are 
in a state of preparation in no less than twenty States, and some 
of the Territories. Some are on a limited scale, and are only 
confined to Agriculture, whilst others are more extensive. Some 
States include Geology and Mineralogy in their Agricultural Sur- 
veys — some, in addition to the above, have appointed naturalists of 
known talents to give descriptions of every native production of 
the State in every branch of Zoology, whilst one State, that of 
New- York, has ordered not only detailed descriptions, but expen- 
sive engravings. 

It would be well in the introduction of this subject, to consider 
not only the relative terms, but the object of these surveys. Geol- 
ogy, in a strict sense of the woi-d, is the science which illustrates 
the structure, relative position, and mode of formation, of the dif- 
ferent organic, metallic, mineral, and other substances, that com- 
pose the crust of the earth. Without touching on that branch of 
the subject which relates to the various theories of the earth, 
which have in many instances given rise to a tissue of extravagant 
notions — the Legislatures of our different States seem to have 
wisely directed the researches of their scientific men to an exam- 
ination of those products of nature which are within the reach of 
our observation, and may be applied to practical purposes, being 
more intent on collecting valuable information, than in an indul- 
gence of speculations, or the invention of theories. As yet we 
know but little in regard to the means which nature emplyos to 
form the very soil on which we tread, by converting into mould 



6 AN TNaumV INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

the various animal and vegetable exuviae. We are just beginning 
to learn how scanty are the genuine observations we possess on the 
process of alluvial deposits, or on the depositions at the foot of 
mountains by means of the decomposition of the various rocks. 
We know but little of the process in producing petrefactions; and 
the world has only just commenced to apply to agricultural pur- 
poses the various mineral, as well as vegetable repositories. 

An Agricultural Survey comprehends an examination of the 
various soils, so as to enable the cultivator to ascertain what plants 
are best suited to each plantation or district — what ingredients 
are wanting in the soil to render it jnoduclive, and to offer sugges- 
tions for its improvement. This requii es the skill and the practice 
of an able chemist, possessing also an acquaintance with the laws 
of vegetable physiology, and a fund of practical agricultural 
' knowledge. 

It embraces an examination of the various localities where ma- 
nures may be obtained, together with directions for their judicious 
application. It points out the errors in the mode of cultivation, 
and suggests such new improvements as have undergone the test 
of experiment. It is intended to direct the planter to such new 
objects of culture as may be safely introduced, when others have 
been found unprofitable — it extends to agricultural statistics, and 
to the management of animals in domestic use — in a word, it in- 
cludes every department of agriculture. 

A knowledge of several branches of Natural History, is more 
or less intimately coimected with agricultural improvements. The 
localities of plants indicate peculiar soils — the ranges of quadru- 
peds, and the migration of birds, afford us lessons in regard to tem- 
perature, nearly equal to those of the thermometer, and the study 
of the habits of insects, which are either a pest, or a blessing to 
the farmer, is of very great importance. 

In some of the districts in several of the States, great benefits 
have accrued from these Geological and Agricultural Surveys. In 
a few instances new localities of metalic deposits have been found, 
whilst in others various mineral manures, limestone, gypsum, marl, 
&c., have been detected, which have converted whole districts 
into fertility. In addition to these, other discoveries have been 
made — such aa valuable clays, building stones, marble, materials 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 7 

for cements and localities, where by boring, springs of wholesome 
water have been conducted to the surface. On the whole, however, 
I am inclined to think that the mass of the community in the 
greater number of the States, has been somewhat disappointed in 
the results of these Geological, Agricultural and Zoological Sur- 
veys. Too much no doubt was anticipated — men hoped that veins 
of gold would be found running under the surface of their farms, and 
that the quantity of silver which should be detected among the rocks, 
would facihtato the great desideratum in our country — a specie cur- 
rency. The farmer expected to be taught by the chemist how to dou- 
ble the product of his fields, without any additional labor. These 
results did not generally follow, and men had no right to anticipate 
them. There can be no doubt, likewise, that in an undertaking so 
new to our country, some mistakes have been made in the selection 
of the individuals, who carried on these surveys. Some of them 
having been incompetent to the task assigned them, and others 
having performed it carelessly, and more from a desire of obtaining 
the pecuniary appropriations of the State, than that of adding to its 
resources, or of advancing their reputations among men of science. 
The repoits on the surveys of the different States, are now slowly 
and irregularly coming before the public, in general, they are 
characterised by those defects, which are incident to a new and 
difficult undertaking. Whilst some are very creditable to their 
authors, others afford abundant proofs of carelessness, haste, and a 
want of knowledge. 

In the State of Massachusetts, not only an Agricultural, but a 
Geological and Zoological Survey, was ordered. The report on 
Agriculture, by the Rev. Mr. Coleman, is of very high merit. In 
the Zoological department, some information is given by Harris on 
Insects, that may be beneficial to agriculture, and some additions 
made to Ichthyology by J3r. Storer, that may aid the cause of 
natural science ; on the whole, however, the papers on Zoology 
betray evidences of imperfection and haste. Siill, as some of 
these branches are but distantly connected with agriculture, 
and the works have been got up without much expense to the 
State, if they confer no extensive benefits on science, they can 
do it no harm. In the State of New- York, however, the Legis- 
lature proceeded on a more magnificent and expensive scale. — ■ 



8 AN INQUftlY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

In 1836, an act was passed, which was amended in 1840 and '42, 
ordering a survey of the State. Various distinguished individuals 
were appointed to give detailed descriptions of all the natural pro- 
ductions of the State, in the departments of Zoology, Botany, 
Mineralogy, Geology and Palsenontology. These were to be 
accompanied with expensive engravings. To what number of 
volumes the I'esult of these labors will be swelled, we are not 
yet informed, or what will be the expense when completed, it 
is difficult to conjecture, — only one volume having as yet appeared. 
In 1842, however, the State had already appropriated $130,000 to 
this object. Tliere appears on the whole, to have been a State 
pride in this lavish expenditure, not very creditable to the wisdom 
of the Legislators of the Empire State, which may eventually pro- 
duce a reaction, and finally, occasion more injury than benefit, both to 
the cause of science and agriculture. It may reasonably be asked, 
what benefit can be conferred on a State, by a publication of descrip- 
tions of well known Birds and Quadrupeds, not a single species be- 
ing peculiar to the State, whilst the great majority have a range of 
several thousand miles, especially when they are well described 
and better figured by others, and when no new information can 
be imparted, and no evidence can be exhibited of any improve- 
ments in art. I am not awaie, that in the most important branch, 
— an Agricultural Survey, any thing was ordered to be done at the 
expense of the State, and no examination was instituted of the In- 
sects, that are either a blessing or an injury to the farmer. An 
examination of the minerals and organic j-emains was important, as 
the various localities of the State, had not before been scientifical- 
ly, explored, and although no new discoveries of coal and other 
objects of anticipated wealth were made, it was well to asceitain 
that none existed. A simple list of the plants and their localities, 
and of the Mammalia and Birds of the State, indicating those which 
were resident or migratory, injurious or serviceable to the hus- 
bandman, with reference for descriptions to standard works, seems 
to be all that the wants of the State and science required. I allude 
to these facts, in order that our own Legislators, in the important 
work we have undertaken, may be guarded against lavish expen- 
ditures on secondary objects. 

I come now to notice the recent appropriation by our Legisla- 
ture, for the survey of our State, In the present case, it cannot be 



OP AN AGHICULTURAL SURVEY. 9 

said that the State has been hurried into the measure, as it has been 
proposed, I think, by every Governor, and agitated in both Houses 
of the Legislature for the last five years. The appropriation also 
involves but a moderate share of expense, and is limited to a single 
object — an Agricultural Survey. 

There can be no person of education and practical knowledge, 
who has had an opportunity of witnessing the improvements in 
agriculture, in Europe and our Northern States, who must not be 
decidedly favorable to the introduction of science into our system 
of agriculture, nor have we any room to doubt, that when this 
is fully understood, and carried into practical effect in our State, 
the product of our soil will be vastly increased — our country will 
be rendered niijre healthy, and our improvements in agriculture 
will advance manufactures and the mechanic arts ; the number of 
inhabitants will be greatly multiplied, and a greater degree of in- 
telligence as well as prosperity will be the inevitable consequence. 

In England, Belgium, and some parts of France and Germany, 
agriculture is now pursued on scientific principles ; and the pre- 
paratory study for the occupation of a successful farmer is the 
work of years. There are, however, advantages in all those 
countries possessed by the cultivators of the soil, that enable 
them to introduce science into their modes of cultivation, which 
are not enjoyed by the farmers of our Northern States, and only 
in a limited degree by our planters of the South. The European 
farmers, are either wealthy land owners, or rent large and exten- 
sive tracts of land, amounting in most cases to many hundred, and 
frequently to several thousand acres. The peasantry are in their 
employ — under their direction, and are obliged to adopt the modes 
of culture determined on by those who employ them. In the North- 
ern United States, the farms are small compared to our Southern 
plantations, or to the extensive domains of an English nobleman. 
Our American farmers not only superintend the concerns of their 
farms, but generally labor in the fields. Hence every small 
farm has its own system of agriculture, according to the knowledge 
or caprice of its owner, and except in a few cases, science has lent 
but a feeble aid to agriculture. In the Southern States, although 
our plantations are much larger, and our operatives under the 
control of the master, yet we labor under many disadvantages, 
2 



10 



AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATDRE AND BENEFITS 



owing to our climate, and more especially to our great deficiency in 
agricultural knowledge. Whereas, in the European kingdoms, 
I have mentioned, the soils of each district, and frequently cf 
each farm, have been thoroughly analyzed — and the intelligent 
farmer is fully acquainted with the kind of cultivation best adapt- 
ed to his lands. He has been taught, by a system of under- 
draining how to diminish a redundancy of moisture ; and by irriga- 
tion, how to render an arid soil fertile. Science teaches him how 
to apply manures to correct a superabundance of clay — how to use 
the various formations of lime, and when and where to withhold 
them ; and he is guided by the lights of science and experience, in 
the selection of those manures best adapted to the roots and plants 
he is desirous of cultivating. For the last half century at least, 
this system of agriculture, on scientific principles, has been matu- 
ring in the minds of the Europeans. Manures have been dug from 
the bowels of the earth— gathered from the sea, and imported by 
ship-loads from the battle-fields, and other depositories contained 
in foreign lands. The Physiology of plants has been carefully 
studied, and every year is adding to their knowledge in this impor- 
tant branch. An acquaintance with the laws of Chemistry has be- 
come more general. Botany is no longer regarded as a merely 
amusing, but a practical and beneficial science. Their knowledge 
of Ornithology teaches thenn to know v/hat birds should be pre- 
served to aid them in diminishing the number of depradating in- 
sects ; and Entomology, one of the most important, but most neg- 
lected branches of science, has been so far studied, as to enable 
them to guard, in a great measure, against the depredation of in- 
sects which infest their grains, fruits and trees. In these various 
departments, the conquests of science have been such, that the cul- 
tivation of the soil on scientific principles, and the study of natural 
science, as a part of the system, is no longer viewed as a doubtful 
experiment ; on the contrary he who rejects these lights of science, 
is regarded by the most intelligent, and most successful cultivators- 
of the soil, as half a century behind the knowledge of his fellov,r 
men in this age of improvement. 

In our own country, few farmers have adopted those modes of 
culture, which the experience and science of Europeans have dis- 
novered to be most productive, and the planters of the South arc 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 11 

in this particular behind the farmers of the North. Cotton and 
rice, the rich staples of our Slate, have so far banished other cul- 
tures, that we have now to import the corn we use in Charleston 
from North-Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia — our flour from the 
Middle States— our hay from New- York and New-England — our 
butter, cheese, and Irish potatoes, from the same prolific source ; 
and our horses, beeves, and hogs, from Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Hundreds of thousands of acres of our former inland rice-fields, 
are now wholly abandoned, and have become the habitation of the 
frog and the alligator. The soil in many of our districts has been 
exhausted by bad cultivation — as is the case in some parts of St. 
Paul's, St. Andrew's, Christ Church, and other parishes. Many 
of their former inhabitants have gone to Alabama and the West, 
where by a similar system, they have in many cases been equally 
unsuccessful, and some of them, or their sons, have, after years of 
absence and deprivation, returned to become overseers over the 
lands they once owned ; like Ruth, to take the gleanings of 
fields once their own ; may they prove as fortunate and as 
deserving. Our mountains abound with metalic wealth, but, 
until recently, the iron of the plough-share that turned up the 
soil, resting on beds of the finest iron ore in the world, was im- 
ported from the North, and the iron bars of our Rail-Road came 
from Liverpool. Marl exists in hundreds of localities in our lower 
country ; and lime-stone in our mountains, and even in our middle 
districts, suflScient to enrich the soil to the end of time — our rivers 
and our sea-shore abound with ingredients of inestimable value to 
the planter, but we have not availed ourselves of these rich manures 
which nature has so bountifully provided. The Hessian fly and the 
chinch-bug destroy our wheat — the weavil our corn and rice — the 
army worm, the rot and the rust, our cotton — the sawyer our pines, 
and the curculio, the coccus and aphis, our fruits — so that we lose 
one half of the products ot our fields, gardens and forests; and yet 
there is scarcely a man in our Southern States that is acquainted 
with the habits and character of a single one of the species of 
these depredators; and of course till its habits and modes of prop- 
agation are known, it will be impossible to suggest an antidote. 

From this admitted defect in our knowledge of agriculture, th3 
important question arises, how can the evil in question be best rt}' 



12 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

jnedied, and in what way 7-nay an Agricultural Survey be rendered 
beneficial, under present circumstances 1 No one acquainted with 
the subject, can deny the benefits which would result from a survey, 
conducted on scientific principles, provided it can be rendered 
available to practical utility. 

There are, however, immense diflSculties in the way of success ; 
these should be candidly stated, in order that they may be met and 
overcome. If the survey is to be conducted on purely scientific 
principles, founded on a careful analysis of soils, and a thorough 
knowledge of vegetable physiology, it is to be feared, that the in- 
dividual suitably qualified to perform this complicated and arduous 
task, cannot be found in the country — and even should we be suc- 
cessful in obtaining such a person, the agricultural knowledge in 
the community, is not sufficiently advanced to enable our cultiva- 
tors to be acquainted with the mode of applying the results to 
practical purposes. Besides, if the whole work is left to a single 
individual, unaided by Agricultural Societies, and men of science, 
he would not be able to survey the whole State, during the term of 
a long fife. The survey of a single county of England required, 
in some instances, four years, aided by Agricultural Societies, as 
well as the intelligence, advice, and personal aid of nearly every 
landholder in the county. Different individuals employed in 
these surveys, arrived at different chemical results. Errors were 
corrected but slowly — new tests were resorted to — new surveys 
made, and the subjects were discussed from week to week, for a 
succession of years. There is another subject which we ought not 
to overlook. The chemical analysis of the soil is one thing — the 
application of the knowledge thus derived, to the plain purposes 
of agriculture, is another. The chemist may be correct in his 
statements of the various ingredients in the soil submitted to his 
examination ; but he must be either acquainted, with the practical 
operations of these results to the purposes of agriculture, or the 
ao^riculturists to which he submits them, must have suflScient 
knowledge of chemistry and vegetable physiology, to carry them 
into successful operation. Let us take for instance, the able sci- 
entific analysis of the soils made by Professor Shepard, from 
eight localities of a plantation on Edisto Island, and let us inquire 
how many planters can be found in South-Carolina, who have a 



OP AN ARICULTURAL SURVEY. 13 

sufficient knowledge of agricultural chemistry, to be guided by 
that analysis, in ascertaining what ingredients are wanting to ren- 
der these soils more fertile, or what causes have been operating 
in producing sterility 1 Even the admirable report which accom- 
panies it, (see Southern Cabinet, 1S40, p. 449,) drawn up with 
great care and research, by a committee of intelligent practical 
planters, although it contains much valuable information in regard 
to various manures, does not afford us those plain and practical 
instructions, which the unskilled planter is so desirous of posses- 
sing. 

The difficulties moreover, which attend the proces in making such 
an analysis of the soil, as will be available to practical purposes, are 
greater than the practised chemist is willing to admit. Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy believed that " neither much time, or a minute know- 
ledge of general chemistry, were necessary for pursuing experi- 
ments on the nature of soils and properties of manures." To him, 
who was thoroughly acquainted with the subject, the work was 
simple enough ; but to men who know nothing, even of the first 
principles of the science, there are difficulties which are for a long 
time insuperable. Even Davy, Lavosier, Chaptal, Decandole, 
Liebig, Dana, Coleman and Jackson, the lights of the world in the 
science of agricultural chemistry, have often difiS'ered, not only in 
regard to their experiments, but in their practical application. It 
is to be greatly feared, that our planters have not received that 
preparatory education, which would enable them to derive imme- 
diate benefit from a purely scientific survey. In England, Agri- 
cultural Societies and agi'icultural education preceded these sur- 
veys by half a century. This was in a great measure the case in 
the Northern States of our own country. It has been observed, 
that when this deficiency existed among the people, they derived 
no immediate benefits from these lights of science ; but in those 
counties, where men had been long trained in these preparatory 
schools of agriculture, they immediately profited by those aids 
which science presented. It is to be feared, moreover, that sec- 
tional jealousies and dissatisfaction may arise, from the fact, that 
the agricultural Surveyor does not possess the power of ubiquity, 
and is obliged to confine himself, for a considerable time, to one 
portion of the State, in order to render his labors of any value. — 
In this stage of our progress, should the overwrought anticipations 



14 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

in regard to the great advantages of such a survey result in disap- 
pointment, a reaction might be produced and cause a delay beyond 
the proper time; for although such a scientific survey of the 
State, may perhaps, at present, be rather premature, yet it would in 
a few years hence, when the public mind has become sufficiently 
enlightened, be productive of immense advantage. 

Fortunately these difficulties, which arc here presented, in order 
that they may be guarded against, are not insuperable. 

Much will depend, on the individual to whom this important 
work shall be entrusted. In his selection, all party feeling and 
personal attachments should be disregarded. He should not only 
be a man of science, but of practical experience in agriculture. 
He should be satisfied with our peculiar institutions, and have 
some knowledge of the culture of the staple articles of our State, 
as well as of those productions which are essential to our food, 
and furnish pastures for our cattle. He must be a man of an en- 
larged mind, and if possible, free from those strong prejudices 
wkich so often prove a barrier to the reception of truth. I have 
often met with managers of large estates of cotton or rice, who 
had been eminently successful in a mode of culture adapted to a 
particular region, and a particular plant — so wedded to the mode 
of cultivation they had adopted, that no arguments could convince 
them that a different plant — another locality and soil, required a 
very different treatment. An agricultural Surveyor should know 
enough of chemistry to enable him to analyze the soils — and be 
able to detect deposits of marl, limestone, and those other ingre- 
dients, which should be used as manures. In the present limited 
state of our agricultural knowledge, I would prefer a highly intel- 
ligent practical man to a purely scientific one, who is unskilled in 
the practical application of the laws of agricultural chemistry. 
He must, moreover, be a man of labor and patience, for he will 
have to experience some deprivations, and encounter a host of 
difficulties. Such an individual might gradually jjrepare the way 
for a more thorough and scientific survey of the State. He might 
encourage, and give a proper direction to the labours of our agri- 
cultural societies, and call forth latent talents in every part of the 
State. Some such unpretending practical examinations should be 
made of the agriculture of our various districts, as we have seen 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEV. 15 

from time to time in the labors of Ruffin and Legare. The time 
may not yet have arrived, when we can be much benefited by such 
surveys as were made by Coleman, of Massachusetts, and Jackson, 
of New-Hampshire and Rhode-Island, unless they are rendered 
far more plain and practical than those contained in their scientific 
_^^eports ; but he may prepare the way, and give a new stimulus to 
agriculture. The result of his labors should be regularly published 
in so cheap a form, that they may find their way to every family in 
the State, 

Much reliance must also be had on the public, in aid of this im- 
portant undertaking. Men must not expect too much, or become 
impatient. A work has been commenced, which, to prove benefi- 
cial, must be continued for years. Sectional jealousies must be 
avoided, and we must regard ourselves as belonging to Carolina, 
rather than to one of its parishes. The minds of our planters 
• must be more directed to those agricultural studies on which their 
prosperity so much depends, and being now about to engage a 
teacher, they must become industrious scholars. 

I will now proceed to offer a few suggestions in regard to some 
of the means of instruction of which we might avail ourselves, in 
order that an improvement in our agriculture may be effected. 
These indeed should have preceded this survey by many years, if 
it is to be conducted on really scientific principles, or may now be 
rendered important auxiliaries, if it is intended to be merely an 
examination of the products of, and modes of culture in the dif- 
ferent districts of the State, 

1. I would suggest the'establishment of Agricultural Societies in 
every district of our State, the fee of admission to membership 
should be so low, that not only planters, but overseers, and men in 
every walk and occupation of life, may be encouraged and induced 
to become members. These Societies should be active, and hold 
their meetings not once a year at a club-house, to eat a dinner 
and talk politics, but monthly or weekly, and interchange senti- 
ments on the results of their several modes of agriculture. There 
will always be in every association of this kind a few men of edu- 
cation, who read the agricultural publications of the day, and who 
are possessed of sufficient zeal and industry, to submit to the test of 
practical experiment the information imparted by agricultural jour- 



16 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

nals. If am asked, -whether iu order to carry on the process of 
cultivating the earth on the principles of science, I regard it as ne- 
cessary that every planter should be a chemist and physiologist, 
and be at the same time acquainted with those branches of natural 
history, Botany, Entomology, &c. whicli are so closely connected 
with it, in a word, whether every culturist must be a man of learn- 
A ing, and of science, I answer — unhesitatingly, No. As in govern- ^ 
' ment, a few leading rqen give a tone to the politics of a State — so 
in agriculture, the science and practical success of a few promi- 
nent planters in the State, will be a perpetual practical lesson to 
the districts around them, and men will adopt their practice with- 
out knowing much of the principles of science by which they have 
been governed. Man is an imitative animal, and is not slow in 
adopting the improvements of his neighbors, where he sees how 
much his own interest is concerned. When the celebrated 
Arthur Young, in 1767, commenced his valuable and well di- 
rected labors, and pointed out to his countrymen an improved 
mode of husbandry, they adopted his mode of culture although 
they only looked at the eftects, and were unacquainted with 
the scientific views which had governed him in carrying on 
his successful experiments. It has been ascertained, that in those 
counties of England, wheie Agricultural Societies were first estab- 
lished, the products of the earth have been trebled within the last • 
thirty years. The Highland Society, which has existed for sixty- 
four years — the most prominent, active, and most efficient in the 
world, whose meetings are held at Edinburgh — has, by the stimulus 
it gave to industry on the principles of science, I'endered a once 
barren soil, in an inhospitable climate, equal in many of its coun- 
ties, to the best portions of England itself. The Lothians are co- 
vered with the most luxuriant crops of wheat, barley, beans and 
other products. On the meadows, the most valuable grasses are 
cultivated ; the mountains, even to their very summits, are covered 
with rich pastures, and I observed herds of cattle and sheep graz- 
ing on the very top of Ben-Lomond, and other high peaks of that 
romantic land. All this I contend has been effected by a practical 
application of scientific knowledge, diffused by means of an Agri- 
^k cultural Society. 

A fact or two in elucidation will be mentioned. Surveys were 
made in each county of Scotland, as well as of England — the soils 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 17 

were analyzed — the materials in each vicinity for manuring were 
examined, and a printed and detailed account was placed into the 
hands of every landholder, which would serve as a guide in the ma- 
nagement of his farm. It is, moreover, not generally known that 
Scotland furnishes more than a fourth of Europe, and a portion of 
America, with genuine undegenerated seeds of many of the 
grains, melons, garden and flowering plants, that are usually 
cultivated. How is this effected ? Botanists have discovered that 
a superior variety of seed immediately degenerates on being plan- 
ted near those of other species or varieties of its own, or a kindred 
genus, and that on the second, or at farthest, the third year, the origi- 
nal and valuable character of the plant has, in a great measure, 
disappeared. Hence it is that in Carolina, when we plant our im- 
ported cantelope melon seeds, in the vicinity of our common mel- 
ons, squashes, &c., all their original, valuable properties disappear 
on the second year; so also, our cauliflower, becomes ? mongrel cab- 
bage, as I have ascertained ; and I am inclined also to think, that the 
generally received opinion in Carolina, that all Indian corn, when 
planted near our sea-board, whatever may have been the original 
variety, is converted into what is called flint corn, by the peculiar 
character of our soil and climate, may be erroneous ; and that this 
peculiarity may be traced to the near approximation of our abun- 
dantly prevailing fields of flint corn, communicating their farina to 
the small patches of new varieties of corn, on which these experi- 
ments are making. But how is this evil remedied in Scotland, and 
why are the seeds of their grains and vegetables pi-eserved without 
the slightest degeneracy from age to age? In raising seeds for plant 
ing, or exportation, no two varieties of the same species, or even 
genus, are suffered to grow within miles of each other, lest the 
winds might waft the fructifying farina of another plant, and pro- 
duce degeneracy in any appr-oved variety. 

Some of the benefits then, which we would have every reason to 
anticipate from well conducted Agricultural Societies, would be 
the following : — 

1. Such Societies would bring to a closer intercourse a few edu- 
cated and scientific men, and a vast number of industrious practical 
agriculturists, who, by an interchange of their different modes of 
3 



18 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

culture, would be equally benefited by the details of failures, as 
well as of successful experiments. 

2. They would not long exist, before the members would be 
made sensible of the importance of analyzing the soils of their 
several districts, and thus ascertaining, v hether there is a de- 
ficiency of those ingredients, which are necessary to the nourish- 
ment of the plants cultivated — wtiat manures should be applied, 
and what modes of culture should be pursued. 

3. They would be able to ascertain the causes which have con- 
verted the once fertile plantations of Carolina into old fields, 
grown up with broom-grass, and no longer yielding sustenance to 
man or beast; — they would learn the importance of a rotation of 
crops, as it is now well ascertained, that different plants not only 
feed on different substances contained in the soil, but that there 
are peculiar exuvico from each, which would be injurious, were 
the same plant reared on the soil for a succession of years, but 
would be a source of nourishment to plants of a different genus. 

4. They would be able by this increased intercourse and know- 
ledge of culture, not only to augment the quantity of tho staples 
row in cultivation, but introduce other valuable products, to which 
our soil and climate are well adapted. 

5. They could scarcely fail to direct their attention to the in- 
troduction of some of those grasses, which would answer as substi- 
tutes for the herd's-grass and clover of the North, which do not 
succeed in our Southern climate, except in particular soils and si- 
tuations. The introduction into Carolina of a perennial grass, suited 
to pasturage and hay, would confer a greater benefit on the State, 
than the discovery of the richest gold mine. 

6. By this additional stimulus to industry, and by the better 
drainino' and cultivation of our land, not only the wealth, but tho 
health of the country would be improved. I could not fail to be 
forcibly struck with a remark made by Liebig in his Agricultural 
Chemistry, although 1 am aware that physicians have adopted con- 
trary opinions in regard to this theory : " Plants (says be) improve 
the air by the removal of carbonic acid, and by the renewal of oxy- 
gen, which is immediately applied to the use of man and animals. 
Vegetable culture heightens the healthy state of a country, and a 
previously healthy coutitry would be rendered quite u«inhabitablo 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 19 

by the cessation of all cultivation." The truth of Liebig's remark 
is verified by the increased unhealthdnes of our Southern country, 
since our own water-courses have been obstructed by decayed 
vegetable matter, and our fields suffered to remain uncultivated. 
Sixty years ago, the planters did not find it necessary to remove 
from their plantations on account of any apprehensions from fever, 
and many of our oldest inhabitants still living, were born and rear- 
ed in situations, where there would now be imminent danger in 
remaining only a single night, during summer ; and the question is 
of momentous importance, what process would render our climate 
of Carolina more healthy than it is at present. We may learn 
something on this head by looking at the effects of cultivation in 
other countries. The boggy fens of England were once the fruitful 
sources of fever. They have been drained — the peat moss has been 
converted into fuel — the lands are cultivated in grain — the pea- 
sant's cottage now stands on its borders, and he enjoys uninterrupt- 
ed health. The time was, when the pontine marshes were tra^ 
versed, even in the day time, at the risk of life ; we are informed, 
that those portions which are drained, embanked and cultivated, 
are now comparatively healthy. The low grounds of Holland and 
Belgium, were once as sickly as Carolina is at present ; in the au- 
tumn, 183S, I slept several nights in their vicinity, and I was inform- 
ed, that since they cultivated their grounds more carefully, their 
former fevers had disappeared. The sluggish waters were still in 
their dykes, but decayed vegetation was no longer steeped in thera 
— every foot of land was cultivated — the borders of their ditches 
were planted with nursling trees, which were to become the future 
pride of their forests; and the cabbage and cauliflower plants, along 
the public highway, nearly touched the wheels of our carriage. 
Thus, the plants inhaled the unhealthy carbonic acid gas, renewed 
the oxygen, and the improvements in agriculture, rendered coun- 
tries healthy, that had formerly been very sickly. 

The 11. Auxiliary to our improvements in agriculture, I would 
. suo-gest, is cheap and widely circulated Agricultvral Papers. — 
This is a subject so self-evident, that it is unnecessary to offer any 
remarks on its importance. Agricultural Societies, without a pub- 
lication of their transactions, would be as inefficient as a rail-road 
without a locomotive. 



A 



2. 



20 AN INQUIRV INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

/ III. I would above ali, recommend a ScJiooI, wheie those branch- 
es are especially taught, which appertain to Agricultural and Hor- 
ticultural pursuits. Schools of this class, first had their origin, I 
think, in Germany; they were next introduced into France and 
Switzerland, and are now springing up in every part of Europe. — 
The Renssellaer School near Albany, in New- York, is also an 
agricultural one. The most complete Institution of this kind, 1 
had an opportunity of examining, is called the Institute of Agricul- 
ture and Forestery, at Hohenheim near Stutgard. I observe that 
it is characterised in the British Farmer's Magazine, as " the most 
complete Agricultural School in Europe." Here, in addition to ; U 
the studies usually pursued in academies, all the operations of 
agriculture and horticulture, are performed by the Students in the 
open air, under the supervision of Teachers, qualified to under- 
take, note down, and record every observable fact, and traceable 
cause. Here, are delivered regular courses of lectures on Geolo- 
gy — Mineralogy and Chemistry — on soils, water, moisture, vapour, 
fermentation, gases, their extraction, mutual attraction, condensa- 
tion and results. Instructions are given, and elucidated by expe- 
riments, on light, heat, electricity, galvanism, magnetism, &c. — 
These are all employed by Nature, and are in incessant operation. 
They constitute the class of great natural agents. Botany, in the 
most comprehensive sense of the term, forms a very important 
feature, which extends to the physiology of plants, their uses — me- 
dical and other virtues. Entomology is also taught as a science, 
connected with agriculture ; and the habits of Insects, as well as 

I Birds and Quadrupeds, are studied, in order to guard against their 

Xwdepredations, or be benefited by their labors. 

The establishment of an Agricultural School on a model, of 
which the above is a faint outline, which may be modified in some 
particulars to adapt itself to the wants of our country, I most 
certainly believe, to be of greater importance to our agricultural 
interests than even an Agricultural and Geological Survey — than 
Agricultural Societies, or Agricultural Papers, inasmuch, as such - 
a school would inevitably lead the way to all these other aids Lo 
our knowledge and success. 

I will not venture on the details necessary to the establishment, 
support and successful operation of such a school. I will leave to 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 21 

politicians the settlement of the disputed point, whether the State 
has, or has not, the constitutional right to expend some of its funds 
in promoting our agricultural interests, as well as the aids it now 
affords to our College and our Military School. Suitable Profes- 
sors may be obtained, although perhaps at present with some diffi- 
culty. The expenses would be less than those of a Military School. 
If the State cannot be induced to lend its aid in such an underta- 
king, it may be worthy of inquiry, whether united individual effort 
might not be made available. In a short time the School, under 
judicious management, would support itself. The term Hr those who 
had previously received a good English education shouid be about 
two, at farthest, three years. Our planters, I should suppose, would 
prefer having their sons educated in such a seminary, after suitable 
instructions in some of our grammar Schools, to that of sending 
them to our Northern Colleges, or even to West Point. However 
highly I estimate the value of the higher branches of mathematics, 
and the modern languages taught in the latter, 1 cannot conceive 
that even such a School will confer half the benefit on our country, 
as would inevitably be derived from a well regulated Agricultural 
School on the principles of science. Fifty young men thus educa. 
ted, would disseminate a knowledge of the science of agriculture, 
which would give a stimulus, and serve as guides to the whole 
State. 

I am fully awai'e of the objections which many successful plan- 
ters urge against the scientific cultivator. He is regarded as a 
theorist and a speculator, and it is predicted that he will eventually 
be unsuccessful. It is admitted that a man may have very correct 
ideao of agriculture, and yet, if he does not carry his knowledge 
into practice by constant attention to his planting interests, all his 
scientific knowledge will be unavailing. On the other hand, he 
who has become successful as a self-taught planter, might have 
reached this eminence many years earlier, and promoted his pecu- 
niary interest to a much greater degree, had he possessed the ben- 
efit of previous knowledge. All self-taught men who have risen 
to any high degree of eminence, have subsequently lamented the ^ 
disadvantages under which they had labored, owing to the want of J 
previous education. What would we think of a lawyer, a physician, 
a merchant, or a mechanic, who would attempt to exercise his pro- 



I 



22 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

fession, without having made himself acquainted with any of those 
previous studies, which the world regards as essential to his success, 
in the profession he has chosen'? At present, our young planters 
are engaged for years 'i their professions, befoie they have learn- 
ed, even the first principles of agriculture, and they acquire a know- 
ledge of planting, more frequently from their past failures, than by 
accidental instances of success. 

I contv-uid, that nearly every improvement in agriculture, as 
as well as nearly every discovery of importance to mankind, has 
been the result, not of the accidental discoveries of the ignorant, 
but of a previous knowledge of some of the sciences, guiding these 
gifted and studious men onwards, in their researches after truth. 
If Newton derived his first idea of gravitation from from the fall of 
an apple, it required such a mind as that of Newton, to make the 
practical application. The cook has seen the steam, issuing from 
the spout of the tea-kettle, from early times, but such minds as those 
of Watt and Fulton, Vv'ere requisite to apply this knowledge to any 
available purpose. Every school-boy can fly a kite, but it required 
the scientific knowledge of a Franklin, to render it the medium of 
conducting to earth, the disarmed lightnings of heaven. The la- 
bors of such men as Sir Huraplirey Davy, Arthur Young, Lavosier 
and Liebig, have done a thousand fold moi'e for the comfort and 
happiness of Europe, than all the Legislators, that thundered in 
their Senates, or all the Heroes, whose names are enrolled on the 
pages of history, and whose monuments fill the niches of West- 
minster Abbey, or adorn the romantic grounds of Pere le Chaise. 
And when the political excitements in our country shall have hap- 
pily subsided, such names as those of Judge Buel, Skinner, Ruflin 
and Seabrook, will be held in grateful remembrance, whilst those 
of our noisy political patriots, will only be handed down to poste- 
rity, through the musty streams of a forgotten newspaper. 

I will here enter a little into detail, on the nature of those studies 
which should be pursued in an Agricultural School, and on their 
beneficial results. 

1. The first and most important is, Chcmhtry — a branch of 
physical science, which analyzes and investigates the composi- 
tion of inanimate bodies. This claims our special attention, not 
only on account of the manner, but the variety of ways by which 



OF AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY, 23 

it may be applied. Soils, we know, must differ widely in their va- 
rious component parts, since even, in one part of the same field?' 
the product is double to that of another part. A field may be ad- 
mirably adapted to one kind of culture, which would produce but 
a scanty crop of another kind. Now, this deficiency in the latter 
ca?!e, arises from the fact, that the soil is wanting in some element, 
necessary to the growth of the plant, or possesses some ingredient 
which is positively injurious. In order to correct this defect in the 
soil, the culturist must first be convinced, that the evil in question, 
is occasioned by some deleterious substance, or by the absence of 
some necessary one. How can he ascertain the fact 1 Soils are 
so blended that we cannot be aided in the investigation by the ex- 
amination of our senses, without chemical tests. Sir Humphry 
Davy in his Agricultural Chemistry, mentions the fo''-jwing fact 
which is in point : — -"A soil of good apparent texture, from Lincoln- 
shire, was put into my hands by Sir Joseph Banks, as remarkable 
for sterility. On examining it, 1 found it contained sulphate of the 
oxide of iron, and I offered the obvious remedy of a top-dressing of 
lime, which conveits the sulphate into a manure." Here was a soil, 
the causes of whose sterility could not be conjectured, even by so 
close an observer, as the eminent Naturalist Banks ; yet, by the ap- 
plication of chemical tests, the whole mystery was solved, probably 
in a few moments. It is a well known fact, that whilst the farms on 
Charleston Neck are admirably adapted to the culture of the Irish 
potatoe, turni])s, carrots, and the whole cabbage tribe, they will 
scarcely produce the sweet potatoe of large size. There must 
then be, some deficiency in the soil necessary to the production of 
this vegetable, which a chemical analysis, both of the soil, and the 
potatoe itself, would no doubt point out. A planter of this vicinity, 
desirous of improving his lands on which he was planting a crop 
of corn two years ago, placed in each hill a quantity of fresh bog 
earth, from an adjoining old and abandoned rice-field. This was 
immediately cover-ed in with the grains of corn. It produced 
scarcely seven bushels to the acre, and he came to the conclusion 
that swamp mud was rather an injury, than a benefit to the corn. 
He was unacquainted with chemistry, and had no great regard for 
the opinions of scientific men as guides to agricultui'e. It was 
suggested to him that lie had applied to his plants, that which in 



24 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

its then state was poisonous, and was advised to open the hills — to 
expose the still undecayed mass of swamp mud to the operation of 
air, light and atmospheric electricity, and replant on the following 
spring in the same hills, and with the same manui-e, which would 
then have undergone chemical action, and be in a fit state to ati'ord 
sustenance to the plants. This, after necessary ploughing, was 
somewhat reluctantly done. In this second expeiiment he was more 
successful, having made thirty bushels to the acre, instead of seven, 
the product of the former year. Manures which are beneficial to 
some kinds of land, will be positively injurious to others. Putres- 
cent vegetable matter, salt and various alkalies, are used as ma- 
nures ; and yet, some lands will be benefited by the one, and would 
be rendered less productive, were the other applied. The same 
may be said in regard to plants. A familiar instance may be men- 
tioned. The rich soil which would cause the geranium to flourish 
in our flower-pots, would, were it applied to our japonicas, azelias, 
and rhododendrons, cause them to deteriorate, and finally to per- 
ish. Hence, the importance of chemical, as well as physiological 
knowledge, in enabling us to analyze the character of our different 
soils, and ascertaining their adaptation to the various plants and 
V,^ grains we are desirous of cultivating. 

2. The next important branches that should be taught in an 
Agricultural School, are Geology and Mineralogy. These are so 
closely connected in many particulars, that they can scarcely be 
separated, still some are alone applied to the arts, whilst others 
are more directly beneficial to agriculture. A beneficent provi- 
dence has scattered mineral and organic wealth, through every 
portion of the earth. Our mountains abound with it, and on our 
sea-board there is no deficiency, although it appears in another 
form. The different minerals can be distinguished from each other, 
by forms, obvious at once to the senses. The mineralogirt, can 
at a glance, detect the characteristics of each species, and is thus 
enabled to ascertain, what may be profitable to man, and reject 
what is of no value. 

How much labor is annually bestowed, how much money ex- 
pended, and how much deception practised on the simple and cre- 
dulous, V ^ich might all be prevented by a knowledge of mineral- 
ogy. How many a sp'="?ulation in a gold mine, which has brought 



OF AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 25 

ruin on the family of the purchaser, might have been avoided, 
had he possessed this knowledge. I have seen a poor family 
thrown into extacies, and dreaming for months ov6r their an- 
ticipated wealth, because an ignorant pretender, had discovered 
on their lands, an ore, which he called gold, and pronounced 
the mine of immense value, but which a mineralogrist detect- 
ed as nothing more than sulphuret of iron. I well recollect 
the sensation produced among the farmers of New-York, when, 
in consequenee of the last war, they were unable to import 
from the British province of Nova Scotia, their Gypsum or Plaster 
of Paris, which was in universal use. The plaster had risen in 
price, to thirty dollars per ton, and at last conld not be procured 
on any terms. Man is full of expedients, and without the res- 
training influences of religion is not over honest. A man in the 
north-western part of the State, (whether the public finally 
decided him to be a knave, or an ignoramus, I do not recollect) 
pretended to have discovered a bed of plaster, which he offered 
for sale at ten dollars per ton. The farmers from Renssellaer, 
Albany, and adjoining counties, in a circuit of an hundred miles, 
went in their sleighs to lay in their store of plaster. The article was 
as hard as granite, and many a mill-stone was broken in the opera- 
tion of grinding. The following summer it was discovered, that 
they had spent their money aud labor for nought, as the material 
v(ras of no more benefit to their land, than so much sand. But 
the same science that detected the deception, discovered also a re- 
medy for these temporary losses and vexatious impositions. A care- 
ful examination was made of the surrounding country, and not 
thirty miles from the above locality, an inexhaustible bed (.)f Gyp- 
sum was in reality discovered, which has proved a greater blessing 
to that part of the State, than a mine of gold. Marl is now univer- 
sally acknowledged to be of immense value as manure. The ma- 
ritime districts of our State, abound with it, and it has been disco- 
vered in many localities, widely remote from each other. That, 
scarcely a planter in the State, knows what it is, is sufficiently evi 
dent, from the specimens they are constantly sending to Charles- 
ton from all quarters, which they either believe, or hope to be 
marl, but which most generally proves a very different material/ 
4 



26 AN INaUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

and of no value as a manure. The knowledge, industry, and zeal 
of Ruffin, in having directed the planters of lower Virginia, to the 
use of marl, cannot be too highly appreciated — in his scientific 
researches and judicious instructions, he is rescuing from sterility 
a soil, which Washington had defended with his sword. — His ad- 
mirable Essay on Calcareous Manures, should be in the hands of 
every planter, on our Southern sea-board. 

3. Vegctahlc Physiology, is another subject wliich holds an im- 
portant rank among the studies, that should be pursued in an agri- 
cultural School. This science investigates and explains the struc- 
ture and vital character of plants. Vegetation is either favorably 
or injuriously aflected by the seasons, the changes of weather — the 
soil and temperature. The organization differs so widely in the 
several species, that some will flourish only in an atmosphere, im- 
pregnated with salt particles, whilst others inevitably perish, if 
planted in the same locality. In my garden, a part of which is 
occasionally overflowed with salt water, the cabbage and cauliflow- 
er sustain no injury, but are rather improved by a moderate wa- 
tering of this nature, whilst on the contrary, the bean, corn, spin- 
age, and several other species, remain diminutive in size, become 
sickly in growth, and generally perish. In particular regions of 
our country, certain plants are only found where the clay soils 
prevail, but can never be detected beyond the line which separates 
this region from the adjoining sandy and loam formations. Some 
plants only flourish in limestone regions. The winds, the birds, 
and the hand of man, scatter the seeds far and wide, but they re- 
fuse to vegetate in soils, that are not adapted to their growth. — 
The Baccharis, Salicornia, Salsola, and several other plants, as well 
as the interesting foreign shrub, the Tamarix gallica, thrive only in 
the neighborhood of salt-water, and are not found beyond these 
prescribed limits; yet, let but an atmosphere and a soil be prepar- 
ed for them, either by nature or art, and they will easily grow and 
flourish there. Thus, ihe salt springs of Onondago, are, I think, 
several hundred miles from the sea, yet I have observed seve- 
ral species of these maritime plants flourishing there, although not 
a single specimen can be found growing in all the intermediate 
regions. Plants too, produce varieties, often infinitely more valu 
able, than the originals from which they sprung, and are so i^i- 



OF AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEV. 23^ 

proved by culture, that nearly their whole characters are changed. 
Still all these changes take place, in accordance with the fixed and 
invariable laws of nature. The object of the vegetable physiolo- 
gist is, to investigate these laws, iu order that by acting in accord- 
ance with thera, he may bring the vegetable kingdom under his 
con'ci'ol, and render it subservient to his use. The experiments 
of Van Mons on fruit trees — the infinite varieties of Japonica, 
Dahlia and Rose, that have been produced of late years, by peculiar 
modes of culture, are sufficient evidences of the triumphs of sci- 
ence in this department. 

4. The next subject of importance to be taught in an Agricultu- 
ral School, although not in the regular order of succession, is that 
oi simple Matliematics, including Arithmetic, Geometry, Levelling, 
Surveying, &c. Without a general knowledge of these, the jDlan- 
ter will often be at a loss in pursuing chemistry, and other studies, 
with profit and pleasure. The agriculturist must be a careful cal- 
culator. He must be able to ascertain what kinds of produce will 
be most valuable for him to cultivate, taking into consideration his 
pecuniary means, his locality, and the peculiar character of his soil. 
He must be able to keep his accounts correctly. A knowledge of 
Surveying will often save him from litigation, and the art of Level- 
ling is all-important, in enabling him to act with judgment, and to 
save expense in digging ditches, or canals. A striking instance 
of the importance to the planter, of the simple art of Levelling, 
came under my notice during the last year. A gentleman engaged 
several Irish laborers to dig a boat canal of two miles in length, at 
a cost of about two thousand dollars. The tide water was to con- 
vey the boats to both ends of the canal. The workmen ridiculed 
the idea of having a scientific level taken, inasmuch, as by carrying 
the tide water with them, they would be certain of finding a true 
water level. The canal is dug; the water overflows its banks at 
the mouth, but scarcely extends half the distance up the canal, and 
the evil must now be remedied, cither by a lock, or an immense 
labor in digging down from the summit, which appears to be six 
or seven feet above the level of the lower part of the canal. 

5. Another department in an Agricultural School is Wleclianical 
Fhilosophij. The planter is a man of all kinds of work, and should 
understand the general principles of every addition, or improve- 



28 AN INQUmV INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

ment that is going on under his eye. A knowledge of mechanics 
will often save him from being imposed on by the workmen he 
employs, and will enable him to have his house, out-buildings and 
fences, constructed for comfort, with a due regard to durability, 
economy and taste. He is constantly using machinery, and vari- 
ous implements of husbandry ; these should be so constructed as 
to produce the greatest effect with the smallest expense of power. 
New inventions are constantly pouring in upon him, and he should 
possess sufficient mechanical knowledge, to be able to decide what 
he ought to appropriate to his use as a beneficial, and what he should 
reject as worthless. Such are the complicated duties of the plan- 
ter, that some knowledge of mechanics seems almost indispensably 
necessary, to enable him to carry on successfully the various ope- 
rations that pertain to his profession. 

6. The rearing of Ani7nals in do?ncstic use, should be regarded 
as a subject of sufficient importance to hold some rank in an insti- 
tution of this kind. In Europe, much attention is paid to this sub- 
ject. In this department, Great Britain is far in advance of the 
world. Their fine breeds of horses,* horned cattle, sheep and 
swine, have been produced not accidentally, but by a thorough 
knowledge of the peculiarties of tljose varieties, from which new 
and improved breeds were to be produced. In England, they 
have separate breeds of horses, adopted to the vaiious services 
required of them ; and the strong unwieldy dray horse, the car- 
riage horse, the hunter and racer, may be distinguished at a glance. 
Those varieties of horned cattle are selected, which are best adap- 
ted to the pastures on which they are to feed ; thus, in the rich 

* The finest collection of horses I ever beheld, was at Regensburg, (Ratis- 
bon,) hi Bavaria, in 1838. They were owned by the wealthy and luxurious 
Prince of Taxus, whose expensive stables were more magnificent than many of 
the palaces of Europe. They were fitted up with marble troughs, fountains for 
bathing, with the ditierent names of ti.e animals, theis countries and pedigrees, 
placed in gilt letters on the wall. Each horse had his groom, and they were daily 
exercised in a magnificent circus. Among these, were not only horses of ap. 
proved varieties from Mecklenburg, Saxony, Austria, Turkey, and France ; 
but, several of the famed barbs from Arabia, and a number from England. To 
my eye, which I confess is unskilled in these matters, the English courser ap- 
peared not only the most elegant in form, but was admitted by better judges than 
jnyself, to be more active and fleet, than [those of Arabia itself. 



OP AN ARICULTURAL SURVEY. 29 

level counties of England, and the Lothians in Scotland, the hea- 
vier breeds of cattle and sheep are preferred ; but, in the moun- 
tainous regions, breeds inferior in size, but equally profitable, are 
reared, and the black cattle, and the black faced sheep, from the 
highlands of Scotland, supply the markets of Edinburgh, where 
they are regarded as fully equal in flavor with the larger breeds. 
I need not say how negligent our planters have been in regard to 
their live-stock of every kind ; cows turned into the woods to feed 
on Broom-grass, are not likely to contribute much to the dairy, and 
we need not be surprised if our hospitable planters, who own an 
hundred head of cattle, sometimes find some difficulty in procuring 
milk for their coffee. Long legged hogs, which appear to have 
been selected rather for speed than weight, with long noses to root 
in the pine lands, require as much corn in the fattening season, as 
would purchase a much greater quautity of bacon ready cured. 

I was highly gratified at Edinburgh, on observing a crowd of 
intelligent young farmers, listening with intense interest to, and 
taking notes on the Lectures of Professor Lowe, on the rearing 
and management of horses, horned cattle, sheep and swine — on 
the varieties adapted to different localities — their diseases and 
modes of cure. His Lecture-room was embelished with fine 
paintings of the various animals that were esteemed for their valu- 
able properties. 

Nor should the rearing of Poultry be regarded with indifference 
by the planter. We frequently hear the remark, "I do not raise 
poultry, because I do not know the art." This only proves that 
he has still something to learn, before he has made himself fully 
acquainted with the duties of his profession. 

7. The next study which is very important in an Agricultural 
School, is Botany, in the broad sense of the terra, which includes 
not only the names and systematic arrangement of plants, but 
their properties and uses. The world is infinitely more indebted 
to science, for the introduction of those productions, which minis- 
ter to the comfort, the wealth, and power of man, than men are 
generally disposed to allow. For the introduction of nearly every 
grain, vegetable, fruit and flower, that minister to the support, 
comfort, or pleasure of man, we are indebted first to the Botanist 
for its introduction, and afterwards to the scientic culturist for itsi 



f)' 



H 



SO AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

improvement. The seeds of our valuable plants, were collected 
by the Botanist often at the risk of life in wild distant regions ; 
wheat, barley, rye, rice, the potatoe, cotton, the ground-nut, &c., 
are all the productions of distant lands, where the world is in most 
.cases lying in barbarism. But we are as much indebted for the 
jmprovemont of plants to the scientific cultivator, as we are to the 
Botanist that first introd-jced them. Such have been the improve- 
ments in the various varieties of wheat, rye, rice, and barley, that 
Botanists themselves are now at a loss to designate the original 
plants from which they sprung. The potatoe, which is now the 
the food of millions, had its origin from a bitter root which grows 
wild in the mountains of South America, and is not larger than a 
bean, as I have satisfied myself by examining specimens from Mon- 
tevid(?^"''It was never used as food in that country, till, by scientific 
culture in Europe, where varieties were produced from the seed, 
it had become so improved, that it has now been sent back to its 
nativ^soil, to prove a blessing to the barbarians, that hitherto were 
unacquainted with its value. The carrot originated from a wild 
and poisonous plant growing on the rocky cliffs of England. The 
acrid and disagreeable Apium graveolens has been transformed 
into delicious celery. The wild cabbage, (Brassica oleracea,) a 
plant not weighing half an ounce, has been improved into cab- 
bages, whose leaves alone weigh many pounds, and into the cauli- 
flower the most delicious of vegetables. Our fine Swedish turnips 
have been produced by improved culture, from the (Brassica na- 
pus,) the common and worthless rape ; as has our fine turnip 
descended from the turnip rape, (Brassica rapa,) which in its wild 
state is small, fibrous, bitter, and wholly unfit for use. The same 
may be said of our fruits. The bitter wild crab of Europe, is the 
origin of our apples, and the wild pear, which I saw in the forests 
of Hungary, not larger than a musket ball, and as acrid as the un- 
ripe persimon, has, by long and scientific culture, produced our 
delicious pear. 

There is another advantage which the j^lanter would derive 
from a moderate share of Botanical knowledge. He would not 
be so frequently imposed on, by having seeds of plants palmed on 
him, as new species of inestimable value, which would, subsequent- 
ly, prove some common worthless weed. The cunning Italian has 



OF AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 31 

chuckled over the oft repeated hoax he played on the Americans, 
who seized with avidity on, and paid an exorbitant price for the 
seed of the Italian mulberry, labelled Morus multicaulis. The 
famous Florida coffee, was sent to the seed stores in Charleston, as 
a newly discovered species, that would soon shut up the coffee 
trade of Havana and Mocha. High prices were paid for the seed ; 
acres were planted by the farmer, and magnificent results were 
anticipated. A single glance of the Botanist, detected in it a 
troublesome and worthless weed, (Cassia occidentalis,) growing 
in most of our plantations in Carolina, which the hoe of the ser- 
vant had long been engaged in destroying, but which the simplicity 
of his master was now requiring him to replant, as infinitely moi'e 
valuable than cotton or corn. For the want of this Botanical 
knowledge, ludicrous, and sometimes mortifying mistakes have 
occurred, where no blame could be attached to the vender of the 
seeds or plants, but were simply occasioned by an ignorance of 
Botany in the purchaser. I have seen many American plants that 
had been ordered from Paris and London, by our florists, with no 
higher recommendation than the exorbitant prices marked on the 
Catalogue ; and when these plants were received, their new owners 
were not a little surprised to find that they had imported Azelias, 
Rhododendrons, Lobelias, Kalmias, Bignonias, and Magnolias, 
which they could have obtained by cart loads in their own woods. 
Some fifteen or twenty years ago, my esteemed neighbor, James 
Nicholson, obtained from Missouri the seeds of a grass, on which the 
wild cattle and buffalo, were said to feed and thrive. He dissemina- 
ted the seed among his friends, who cultivated it under the name of 
Lewis and Clarke's grass. Among the rest, I sowed a bed of it in 
my garden, where I had for many years been making experiments y 
on some European grasses. The plants came to maturity, and I 
was not a little surprised to find, the far famed Lewis and Clarke's 
grass, to h an old and well known European species, the meadow 
soft grass, (Holcus lanatus) which I already possessed. The soil 

in which it was sowed, was not probably suited to its growth, 
and I finally regarded it as inferior to the blue grass, (Dactylus 
glomerata,) to which 1 have given the preference as a win- 
ter grass. I made allusion to these experiments in the Octo- 
ber number of the Southern Agriculturist of 1834, page 520, 
of which I was the temporary Editor, during the absence of 



V 



^: 



32 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

the friend who so ably conducted it. Recently, a distinguished 
Agriculturist in Europe, sent to me for some of the far-famed 
Muskeet grass, from Texas, of which I had heard a favorable 
notice from some of my friends, but had overlooked the printed 
accounts. The seeds were accordingly obtained from Columbia, I 
hesitated in sending them immediately, inasmuch as I suspected in 
them an old and familiar acquaintance, which, on being forwarded 
to Europe, would be like sending "coals to Newcastle." An imper- 
fect specimen of the mature plant, kindly sent by my friend Joseph 
O'Hear, rendered it quite certain, that I had once more, under a 
new name, obtained the Holcus lanatus, the famous Lewis and 
Clarke's grass, of Mr. James Nicholson, described by Linnaeus, 
Curtis, Schreber, Knapp, and a whole host of European Botanists, 
—a native of the woods and fields of Europe, experimented on by 
agriculturists, and supposed less valuable than many other grasses 
in cultivation; introduced into New England by our pilgrim fore- 
fathers, and carried by migratory birds to the far West, and all over 
the land. Here now are seeds of a grass that have passed through 
the hands of the most intelligent, patriotic, and pui'est men of the 
State, liberally and generously disseminated over the country, and 
yet sad mistakes have orginated from a want of Botanical know- 
ledge. The grass, I trust, may yet prove as beneficial to the State 
as the most sanguine could desire. That which is unsuited to one 
soil and climate, may be admirably adapted to another. But had 
those who imported aud disseminated the seed, possessed a 
small share of scientific knowledge, they might have been in- 
structed by the experiments made on it, for a century past in Eu- 
rope, and America, and obtained it far short of Texas, even in 
many of their own fields and gardens. 

The advantages of the study of of sytematic Botany, may be 
farther seen in removing the evils which result from the use of the 
common names given to plants, which are not uniform, even in 
different neighborhoods of the same State. How many species of 
plants are there, that are called Snake-root, by the people ot 
the country, which are indiscriminately applied to the cure of 
diseases, although their characters and medicinal properties differ 
very widely, some being cathartics, some emetics, and others ton- 
ics. Various species of the three very distinct genera of Gentiana, 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 33 

Aristolochia and Asarum, are called by this unmeaning name. But 
more especially do we find this confusion, existing in the common 
names given to Grasses ; 1 will illustrate this by a familiar instance. 
The farmer of New-York possesses an invaluable grass called the 
Timothy gi-ass, named, it is supposed, after the man who is said to 
have first introduced it into cultivation. But he has heard of other 
fine grasses on which he is also desirous of making an experiment. 
He sends to England for the Meadow Cats-tail, the finest grass in 
Europe ; and to Maryland or New-England, for the far-famed 
Herd's-grass. When these seeds have been received, after much ex- 
pense and trouble, he will discover that these are but different names 
for the Timothy grass, he already possesses, and that he could have 
acquired the specific name of Phleum pratense, by which it is 
known among Botanists all over the world, much easier than he has 
learnt the various vulgar names by which such confusion has been 
created. 

8. Another department in Natural History, which ought not to 
be altogether overlooked in an Agricultural School, notwithstand- 
ing it is regarded as a study wholly unconnected with Agriculture, 
is Ornithology. Nature has wisely provided that one race of ani- 
mals should serve as a check upon the too rapid increase of others. 
This uniformity is seen in every department of her works. The 
bird is a blessing to the husbandman by destroying the I'eptiles and 
insects, which would otherwise be an annoyance to him, and by 
ridding the earth of a superabundance of the seeds of weeds and 
grasses. The Stork in Holland, the Turkey Vulture in Carolina, 
and the Rooks of England, are familiar instances, where man has 
acknowledged the benefits derived from some of their species; and 
indeed the boxes provided for the Purple Martin, and the cala- 
bashes for the house Wren, all go to testify that the farmer is not 
wholly unmindful of the benefits he derives from some of the 
feathered race. I would we could say this of many other species, 
that have been either neglected or misrepresented. So ignorant 
are our culturists of Ornithology, that they know not what birds 
should be destroyed as nuisances, or preserved as benefactors. 
Old Kalm tells us a story that will bear frequent repetition ; that in 
Virginia, in his day, a bounty was given for the destruction of the 
little Crow, meaning, no doubt, some species of what are usually 
5 



34 AN TNQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

called Black birds, of which there is a considerable number of 
different C4enera and habits, a few doing some injury to the corn, 
but the great majority, the Cow bird, (Leterus pecoris,) espe- 
cially, being decidedly beneficial to the farmer ; but they were des- 
troyed, (of how many species there was no Ornithologist to tell,) 
and the consequence was that such was the increase of destructive 
insects, that they, after a great expenditure of money, would have 
bought back the murdered birds at any price. In the days of our 
forefathers, a Governor of New-England offered three-pence a 
head for the Purple grackle ; but it is said the insects multiplied so 
rapidly, that the herbage was destroyed, and the inhabitants were 
obliged to import hay from Pennsylvania and England. In fact, a 
single bird of this species, by destroying the grubs that feed on 
the young corn, saves more corn than would feed an hundred 
Grackles for a whole year. Even our Hawks, against which the 
world has declaimed an exterminating war, do not deserve to be in- 
discriminately denounced, inasmuch, as a considerable number of 
the species are not only harmless, but beneficial to us. Four spe- 
cies that visit Carolina, feed on insects — one on fish, one on ser- 
pents, and one on frogs and lizzards. " I have made a good day's 
woik said a planter to me, for after watching and crawling nearly 
all day, I have shot these two Hawks, which is as good as a dozen 
fowls saved." I thought he looked a little disconcerted, when I 
informed him that he had killed a pair of his best friends, the Mis- 
sissippi Kite, a species which feeds alone on insects, and is so little 
carniverous, that it would not even pounce on a sparrow. Some 
of our Owls, feed exclusively on mice, others on small birds ; and, 
of all our Southern species, the great horned, or Virginia owl, is 
the only one which is injurious to our poultry, and this is exceed- 
ingly rare, We have two species of Crow on our sea-board, one 
of which, and the rarest, is principally injurious to com; the other, 
feeding on worms, berries and fish, is comparatively harmless, yet 
they are seldom known as distinct, by the farmer, who denounces 
vengeance inuiscriminately against friend and foe.* 

* In tVie State of New-York, the following plan has been successfully adopted for 
thii'ty years, in preventing the crows from pulling- up the newly planted Indian com. 
Boiling water is first ponred on the seed com, in suiKcient quantities to fill the ves- 
sel in which it is placed. When the water has stood on a few hours, to become 
perfectly cool, it is poured ofl' and half a piiit of boiling coal tar to every bushel of 
corn is poured on the seed, which is carefully stiired, until every grain is covered^ 



OP AN AGRIODLTURAL SURVEY. 35 

We have in Carolina, about 250 of the 500 species of American 
birds, found North of Mexico, the majority of which are migra- 
tory; but a large minority either remain with us some lime during 
spring and summer, or are permanent residents ; of all this num- 
ber, we have only about a dozen species, that can, by any possi- 
bility, be regarded as decidedly injurious to the planter. All our 
Thrushes and Orioles, our Fly Catchers and Warblers, are useful 
aids in destroying worms and insects. The tyrant Fly catcher, or Bee 
bird, is destroyed by our American youths, (who appear to have the 
organ of destructiveness largr ly developed) because he is said to kill 
bees. It is true he may kill the bee that falls in his way, but he makes 
amends by destroying thousands of noxious insects ; and is, more- 
over, a great protection to the poultry yard, for he never suffers a 
Hawk to come within a quarter of a mile of his nest — makes war 
against the Crow and Vulture, and even pounces on the back of the 
Eagle, the emblem of our pride and glory. The whole tribe of 
Warblers feed on caterpillars and worms, each individual consum- 
ing several hundreds in a day. During the last spring, I had a 
large bed of cabbages and cauliflowers, which were so infested by 
the small green cabbage wotm, that their leaves were perforated 
like a honey-comb, and I was obliged to have the worms picked 
every morning, amounting often to a t.ea-cup-full. About this 
time, I observed a nest of the orchard Oriole, in a garden adjacent 
to mine ; the old birds found their way into my cabbage yard, and 
so thoroughly kept down the worms for three weeks, that they 
proved better scavengers than my servants, and saved us further 
labor during that time. But the nest was discovered by the little 
lads of the neighborhood, who seized on the young, and caught 

with a thin coating of tar. It is then rolled in Gypsum, which is used as a valuable 
manure, but is of no particular use in keeping off the crows. The hot water does 
not affect the vitality of the grain, on the contrary, it hastens its gcrminativc powr 
ers. When this plan was first adopted in the Northern States, on a few of the 
farms, it did not immediately answer the expectations of of the farmer, inasmuch, 
as the fields were visited by a succession of crows, and the new comers were all 
obliged to submit to a tarred mouth, before they could be induced to desist, and 
their thievish propensities were encouraged by other fields of untarred corn. But 
since the practice has become universal, the crow-minder has been found to be su- 
perfluous. A few of our Carolina planters, have within the last few years, adopted 
this plan, adding saltpetre to the hot water, omitting, I regret to say, the Gypsum, 
and they speak favoraldy of it. I liave no doubt, were it :o become general, it 
would be equally efficacious. 



.36 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

the old in a trap cage, and now the cabbage worm re-appeared, 
and remained a pest during the whole summer. The countless 
millions of Sparrows that visit us in winter, merit our protection 
and gratitude, on accouut of their devouring the seeds of weeds 
and grasses, that would, otherwise, overrun our fields ; and I even 
doubt, whether our Rice-bird, whose delicious flesh should disarm 
our hatred against it, on account of the depredations it commits on 
our late crops of rice, does not, in another particular, make 
amends for its hasty autumnal meal, by its return to the same fields 
on the following spring, in its harlequin dress, to pick up the scat- 
tered grains of rice left on the ground, and thus saves in part at 
least, the labor of picking out the stems of volunteer or red rice. 

9. Entomology. This important study must yet be pressed into 
the service of the culturist, and can only be pursued with advan- 
tage by men instructed in the schools of science. Until we know 
{he characters of insects, their modes of propagation, and peculiar 
habits, we can never find a remedy, against their drpredations. A 
proper knowledge of Entomology will save us much useless labor, 
iand be productive of incaiculable advantage. Although this science 
was not regarded in Europe as of great importance to agriculture, 
until within the last twenty years ; yet, such successful results have 
been produced, that the farmer now regards the Entomologist with 
respect, and welcomes him as a benefactor. As far as I have been 
able to ascertain, there is not a single insect in that country, whose 
depredations were formerly dreaded, that has not either been com- 
pelled by the power of science, to pause in its career of mischief, or 
been exterminated from the farms. It must, however, be recollected, 
that we are living in another hemisphere, which, as far as Natural 
History is concerned, is emphatically a new world. There is not a 
solitary species of native quadruped, land bird, plant or insect in 
Carolina, that is identical with any species in the old world. Their 
science can, therefore, only aid us in the manner in which our expe- 
riments must be conducted. It is left to us to study the species, and 
discover the remedies. The pecuniary losses which are sustained by 
insects in a single year, in two of our staples alone, wheat and cotton, 
would be suificient permanently, to endow an Agricultural School 
in every State and Territory of the Union. There is no greater 
mystery in the insects that lie imbeded at the joints of the wheat 
stalk, or that perforate the bolls of cotton, than there is in many 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 37 

better known species, whose habits have been determined, and 
whose depredations have been effectually checked. We should 
also recollect, that situated as we are, so near the tropics, where 
insects so abundantly abound, we are constantly liable to fresh 
importations of foreign species, that may become permanent resi- 
dents, if we are not timely guarded against them. Within the 
last five or six years, a minute insect has appeared on the stems of 
our Fig-trees, which, if left unmolested, destroys the largest tree 
in a single season, and at one time threatened the destruction of 
these, the most valuable fruit trees on our Southern sea-board. 
Its character, howevei", has been investigated, and we are induced 
to hope a remedy, which is now in the course of experiment, has 
been discovered. On the Orange trees of Carolina, an insect, 
which, when removed from its envelop, is no larger than a pins 
point, made its appearance some twelve or fifteen years ago. How 
it was brought here, or from whence it came, no one can tell, as it 
appears not to have been described. The evil might have been 
checked in the bud, but the insidious foe was too insignificant in 
size to create apprehension, and in a few years, our beautiful or- 
ange groves presented the appearance of a forest through which 
the fires had passed. A severe frost succeeded, and relieved us 
of the unseemly sight, by destroying effectually the few trees in 
which there still existed the lingering remains of life. Unfortu- 
nately, the same pest (not the less formidable on account of its mi- 
nute size,) has very recently been introduced into the Orange 
groves around St. Augustine. If the fires of heaven had blasted 
every tree and herb, and consumed every dwelling and out-house 
in those regions of East Florida, where the orange is an article of 
commerce, the injury the inhabitants would have sustained would 
have been an hundred fold less than they are now doomed to ex- 
perience from this insect. I perceive by the fruits obtained this 
season from Cuba, that this enemy has also found its way into that 
beautiful Island, and unless the neglected, and despised science of 
Entomolgy, comes forth to the rescue, we may, a few years hence, 
look in vain for an Orange, Citron, Lemon, or Lime, from Florida or 
Cuba. If the facts I have stated, are not yet sufficient to convince 
the agriculturist of the evils which arise from the neglect of this 
study, I will add a few others that have fallen under my personal 
observation. 



-SS AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

About thirty-five years ago, in my native State of New- York, a 
large spiny caterpillar appeared on the Lombardy poplar trees, 
the only shade trees then existing in our Northern villages. Men 
became alarmed, for it was reported, that a dog had been stung 
and died, rumor soon mr^rnified it into a child, that had been kill- 
ed, in another part of the State. The press issued many strange 
conjectures and crude speculations. Consultations were held by 
the father?-: ui Uie land on this new danger, from a recently impor- 
ted, and dreadfully poisonous scorpion, as it was supposed to be. 
It was urged in vain, that the so much dreaded insect, was only 
the larva of a gaudy and well known species of Butterfly, (Papilio 
antiope) and that it would be an act of vandalism, to desti'oy the 
beautiful shade trees, for harboring a harmless caterpillar. But 
the science of Entomology, which had scarcely been heard of, 
could not stem the torrent of prejudice and ignorance, and it was 
resolved, that the trees should be cut down forthwith ; the axe 
was soon at work, and in the course of three weeks, the stately 
poplars in many of the villages, and along the public highways of 
New- York, as well as in many towns in New-England, were felled 
and burnt. I am glad that their posterity have grown wiser, and 
re-planted them. 

A farmer on Charleston Neck, two years ago, solicited my 
advice in regard to the Tomato worm, which in spite of the 
most careful attention on his part, had so increased during the 
season, that his large crop of Tomatoes, on which he principal- 
ly depended for the markets, was in danger of being wholly des- 
troyed. " I pick them carefully (said he,) with my own hands 
every morning, and bury them — I am sure, that at least, none of 
the large ones escape, yet the more I destroy, the more they 
multiply." T carried him tp^ his little grave-yard, where he had 
buried his worms, showed him a quart of the remains of his ene- 
mies, which had already been transformed into a chrysalis state, 
assured him, that those which had attained nearly their full size, 
would have buried themselves in the ground, if he had not saved 
them the trouble, that to use a vulgar phrase, he had carried the 
" Rabbit to the briar-bush," that this chrysalis would soon become 
a moth, (Sphinx carolinus) and in its crepuscular flight, would, 
by depositing its numerous eggs on the leaf of the Tomatoe, lay 
the foundation of ten thousand more of his formidable opponents. 



OP AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 39 

There was a faint smile of incredulity on his countenance, and 
thus we parted. 

A few weeks ago, I observed in the district of Lexington, near 
the borders of Edgefield, an extent of country, fifteen miles in di- 
ameter, where nearly all the Long-leaved pines had been killed 
by a worm, usually called Sawyer or borer — producing, as they sup- 
posed, (no doubt correctly,) disease and mortality among the inha- 
bitants, from the decay of vegetable matter, and the exposure of 
the unshaded earth to the rays of the sun. The ravages of this 
destructive insect, have been occasionally observed, for many 
years past, in particular localities, between Florida and North- 
Carolina. Many of the inhabitants, were at a loss to account, for 
the cause of this destruction of their finest timber. Some suppo- 
sing it to have been occasioned by the heavy rains, of the last sea- 
son, which they thought might have caused the roots of the trees to 
perish. The pileated Woodpeckers, were by hundreds, busy in 
extracting the marauders from the bark, in the various stages of 
the larva, chrysalis, and the beautiful perfect, coleopterous Insect, 
and the lads were shooting them in all directions, as many of them 
believed, from the tens of thousands of perforations in the bark, 
that these useful birds were destroying their trees. 

How frequently have we seen in our maritime districts, vast labor 
expended by the lovers of fine fruit, in placing layers of oyster shells 
or a pavement of bricks, around the roots of our Peach trees, in or- 
der to guard the fruit from the depredations of that pest, the Peach 
curculio. A little knowledge of Entomology would have convinced 
them, that the Insect, as it drops from, or with the fruit, buries itself 
in the earth, often at r considerable distance from the roots, where 
it undergoes its transformations, and in the spring, crawls up the 
the tree to renew its depredations, and that all their labor and ex- 
pense, is perfectly useless as a preventative, and positively injuri- 
ous to the growth of the tree. How few farmers are there, who 
can be convinced, than the worm (^Egeria exitiosa) which causes 
the gummy exudation from the stem, is in no wise connected with 
the destroyer of the fruit, and belongs to an entirely diflerent fami- 
ly of Insects. The cause of the slabbering of horses, that feed on 
the young growth of clover, in the Middle States during summer, 
rendering the animals poor, and the pastures almost useless, has 
occasioned infinite contradictory, and some very absurd conjee" 



# 



40 AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 

tures ; and even now, it has not been satisfactorily determined, 
whether the evil was occasioned by a poisonous wtiKd, or an Insect, 
or whether it was to be traced to the clover itself. The same dif- 
ficulties exist in regard to what is called the milk sickness in Ala- 
bama and Mississippi, where thousands of cattle annually fall vic- 
tims to this disease, and from which we are told, even man himself, 
is not exempt. 

But it may be asked, can science find a remedy against the de- 
predation of Insects ? I answer, this has already been done in a 
large number of cases, in our own country, even with our limited 
knowledge of the subject, possessing as we do, scarcely a dozen 
Entomologists, to seventeen millions of inhabitants ; and man will 
prove himself unequal to his high destination, if he does not tri- 
umph over every opposing difficulty. The God of Nature has ap- 
pointed him Lord over this lower creation. In obedience to his 
laws, he has conquered the Lion, the Tiger, and the Bear, sub- 
dued the native ferocity of the Elephant, and rendered him obedi- 
ent to his will, and subservient to his use — he has measured the 
very heavens, and is now beginning to traverse the earth with the 
speed of the bird, and surely he will not suffer himself to be dis- 
comfited by an Insect. 

In conclusion, whilst I sincerely hope the contemplated Survey 
may, by the judicious selection of the individual, to whom the 
work is entrusted, and by the forbearance, indulgence, and cheer- 
ful aid of our enlightened planters, be productive of much be,nefit 
to our agricultural interests, I cannot refrain from expressing^ the 
desire and belief, that, in due time, we may hear of efficient Agri- 
cultural Societies, Agricultural Publications, and an Agiicultural 
School, 

The melancholy facts are undoubted, that whilst all our Northern 
States have advanced in agricultural improvements, South-Caro- 
lina has deteriorated. Notwithstanding our mild climate, capable 
of producing two crops a year — the number of products to which 
our soil is adapted — the fine streams for mill-seats and manufacto- 
ries with which our State abounds, and the facilities to a market 
afforded by our navigable rivers and rail-roadi^ the increase in our 
exports is confined to cotton and rice alone, and of the latter, we 
do not export a much larger quantity than we did half a century 
ago. Formerly, we exported grains, we are now importing from 



AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND BENEFITS 4 { 

Other States, the materials that serve as food for ourselves and our 
cattle. In other years, the boats from Camden and Columbia 
brought corn and oats to Charleston,^jjovv these boats are employ- 
ed in conveying these important and; necessary articles of food, as 
well as hay from our city (where they have been received from the 
States North"of us) to Columbia and Camden. I have some where 
read a statement made by Mr. Seabrook, the accuracy of which 
cannot be questioned, that during the last twelve years, South- 
Carolina had, on an average, imported 350,000 bushels of corn 
annually. How greatly would this list of our imports be swelled, 
were we to add to the above the oats, hay, flour, butter, beef, pork, 
lard, and other articles of food, which might be produced in our 
own State. Under such wasteful drains on the peeuniaT'^ resour- 
ces of the State — with so many enemies preying on the vitals of 
her prosperity — under a system of husbandry that is yearly ren- 
dering her soil more sterile — confining herself to the culture of 
cotton, which has greatly fallen in price, and of which more is 
grown than the world can consume — with rivals in Egypt, In- 
dia, and Brazil, whilst the South-Western States and Texas, can 
produce the article at a cheaper rate — how long will it be before 
South-Carolina will become wholly impoverished? 

I have alluded to these humiliating facts, not from any desire of 
indulging a spirit of disaffection or censoriousness, but with deep 
and unmingled regret, that the State of my early choice ; whose in- 
stitutions I love; with whose prosperity my best interests are 
associated, and for which my most fervent aspirations ascend 
should, by a neglect of her agricultural interests, have permitted 
her neighboring States, possessing fewer natural resources, to out- 
strip her in the race of improvement, and in that agricultural know- 
ledge, on which our prosperity and power so manifestly depend. 

There is a consolation, however, in the belief, that our people 
are learning a salutary lesson from adversity. The resuscitation 
of a soil, rendered sterile by improper modes of cultivation, it has 
now been ascertained, can be easily effected by patience, judo-ment 
and a small share of industry. Great-Britain had once an unpro- 
ductive soil, which by scientific culture, has become the Garden of 
the World. I well recollect, when the farms of the State of New- 
York, were cultivated ir the mode which has so long and so ruin- 
ously been adopted in Carolina. Successive crops of wheat were 
6 



42 OF AN AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. 

sown on the same field. In four or five years, the lands were ex. 
hausted, and scarcely produced six bushels to the acre — they were 
then tlirovvn out as old fields ; the trees in the neighboring woods 
were deadened — the under-brush burnt — the new lands cultivated 
in the same slovenly way, till they, in their turn, became unpro- 
ductive, and the farmers went to seek for richer lands in the wes- 
tern counties. Now, these old and once abandoned fields, have 
by a judicious mode of culture, by a rotation of crops, by the use 
of clover, plaster, lime, and other manures, been rendered more 
productive than when the lands were originally cleared, and yield 
on an average, from twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat, or 
eighty bushels of corn to the acre. In Carolina too, it has been 
ascertained, that although we cannot raise such large crops of corn 
as are produced in the Northern States, we can at least, treble the 
product of former years. The results of the several experiments; 
recorded in the Southern Agriculturist, are sufficsent evidences of 
this fact. Mr. O'Hear, during the last .ieason, raised forty-six 
bushels, Mr. Coward, fifty-two and three quarters, a writer under 
the signature of Z., fifty-seven and a half bushels, and Mr. B. R. 
Smith, sixty-seven bushels and eighteen quarts, to the acre. 

Within the last few years, I have observed a spirit of inquiry and 
increased knowledge among our young planters — I can enumerate 
at least twenty, in the limited list of my acquaintance, who by judi- 
cious and scientific modes of culture, have doubled the products of 
their fields. If the schoolmaster is at work, let us hail him as a 
benefactor, and send him scholars. If there is a spirit of inquiry, 
let us give it a right direction. If South-Carolina ever recovers 
her proud pre-eminence among her sister States, it will be through 
the means of Agricultural knowledge. When this is effected, she 
may hope to win back her sons, who have not already permanently 
essablished their familes, or found graves in the far West. Our 
impoverished soils will be renovated — our people will be content- 
ed with their natives homes, and the future destiny of our State 
will fulfil the glowing anticipations of those who found it a wilder- 
ness, rescued it from the savage, defended it against a foreign foe, 
and left it as a rich legacy to their descendants. 




^ 




AN INQUIRY 



^ 



NATURE AND BENEFITS 



AGRICULTURAL SURVEY ] 



STATE OF SOUTH-CAROLINA. 



JOHN BACHMAN, 



CHARLESTON : 

MILLBR & BROWNK, PHINTER3 ANP PUBLISHER.^, 

Old Stand, No. \ Broad-street. 
1843. 




'|||yiHii|i '^ " > %4?v>^^,-» K^\ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



mmmtllm 



WMfWiWUvM 






^- 



III! Hill iiiiiiiij ,11,1 111,1 1,1,1111,1 mil III 

003 220 677 3 




■ »j i.T>.' »;v,'t ti .»>;t! t^.'^i.'.t.^'A^ii' 









liiil 




